Todays sermon: The Power and Influence of the Church Acts 5:12-16 12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Introduction: As we come to our text today we see the power and Influence that the early church had on its community. A Friend in my library commenting on this text said brother Wilson… “We have learned that the Spirit-filled church in this passage is three things… She is unified She is magnified And She is multiplied. Because of Her power and influence, He said that Satan wanted to do three things to this church… He wanted to divide the church He wanted to disgrace the church And He wanted to decrease the church Observation: And I believe that he wants to do this the NBCBC today… and he will do it, if we let him use us to accomplish his task. “But the church described here in Acts completely triumphed over the attacks of Satan!” Note: According to another scholar’s observations, God gave the Apostles power to perform great miracles. These “signs and wonders” were God’s way of authenticating their ministry (Rom. 15:18–19; 2 Cor. 12:12; Heb. 2:4). God was validating his servants as he was using his servants! God was empowering his servants as he was employing his servants,,, God was filling his servants as he was pouring out of his servants. Observation: Why was God doing this and why had this occurred in this manner…. I discovered an amazing truth as I wrestled in this text… God had done this method before in the Holy Scriptures with men prior to the apostles…. Just as there were special judgments at the beginning of a new era, so there were also special miracles. We find no miracles performed in Genesis, but at the beginning of the age of Law, Moses performed great signs and wonders. Elijah and Elisha were miracle workers at the beginning of the great era of the Prophets, Jesus and the Apostles performed signs and wonders when the Gospel Age was inaugurated. Each time God opened a new door, He called man’s attention to it. It was His way of saying, “Follow these leaders, because I have sent them.” The mighty wonders performed by the Apostles were the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise that they would do “greater works” in answer to believing prayer (John 14:13–14). When Jesus performed miracles during His ministry on earth, He had three purposes in mind: (1) to show compassion and meet human need; (2) to present His credentials as the Son of God; and (3) to convey spiritual truth. For example, when He fed the 5,000, the miracle met their physical need, revealed Him as the Son of God, and gave Him opportunity to preach a sermon about the Bread of Life (John 6). The apostolic miracles followed a similar pattern. Peter and John healed the crippled beggar and met his need, but Peter used that miracle to preach a salvation sermon and to prove to the people and the council that he and John were indeed the servants of the living Christ. God was at work in the earth, displaying His power and influence in the church, so that the world would see his bride and those who had been called by God to follow him. Note: Today we want to look at this text…and we want to examine that first century church and her power and influence. The Power in their works 12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. Note: When we come to this portion of the text we see an amazing report from Luke. He tells us that the Apostles had a supernatural power. They were able to do miracles (Many signs) and wonders in the presence of the people. An example of such a sign has already been given with Peter’s healing the lame man (3:1–10). Now all the apostles were shown to be doing miraculous works. The miracles were performed among the Jewish populace (laos) were “signs” that pointed to and prepared the way for the witness to the word. These signs were validation that God was doing a new thing in the earth, and these men were hand-picked by God to do these great things. Observation: Because of this supernatural-power…The Unity of the church is remarkable and unable to be broken by satanic distraction… They are all still on one accord… They have one-mind, one agenda, one spirit, one-focus, one-purpose, one mandate, one-Lord, one-Savior, and One-voice… They Love the Lord and they are in tune with what He wants done on the earth! Note: They are on one accord in Solomon’s Porch! The Pharisees and the priest ran the temple; they were in control of its religious activities. So the Christians must have been given this space of the side of the temple to gather for worship. Observations: The same ones that arrested them for doing miracles also gave them space in the temple…God was using their enemies to help grow the church! They worshipped, worked, and witnessed for Christ in the Temple, and they were on one accord as they served Him. Not only did the Pharisees see but the whole community could see! Part B. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. Note: This is interesting …their works were on display! The community saw their miracles and what happened to Ananias and Sappharia… Because of the Holy Fear of God… “The Rest” non-believers looking inside…decided not to join the local church… They had a healthy reverence for the Holiness of God! When they saw the Spirit of God at work in the lives of his people they were in awe of His presence and kept their distance because of fear! Note: A Few great preachers commenting on this passage said these words… It is not the church that welcomes everybody that has the best testimony, for the people were afraid to join the church there in Jerusalem (v. 13). A local church must have standards and must let the Spirit lead. A second preacher said… The people were awed by the power of the apostles, seeing the miracles worked through their hands, and perhaps having heard the report about Ananias and Sapphira. They did not run up and join the Christian band in the colonnade but kept a healthy distance (v. 13a). Observation: Nevertheless they held the Christians in the highest regard. [Luke was working with a paradox here.] It is the same two-sidedness of the Spirit’s power … that had just been demonstrated in Ananias and Sapphira. The power of the Holy Spirits “miracles” attracts the crowd, but puts fear in the crowd! The awesome power of the Spirit that judges also demands commitment and responsibility. Before that power the crowd kept its distance with healthy respect, unless they were willing to fully submit to that power and make a commitment. Application: We are in need of this type Holy fear in the hearts and minds of God’s people today… I Agree… I think People should think twice about joining Gods church! I believe that people should count the cost before they commit! They should know of the Terror of the Lord as well as the grace of our God! They should know of the requirements for obedience at all cost! Question: I wonder what the world thinks of when they hear of the new beginnings church. Do they hear of the power of God or of the drama of men? [Do they count the cost?] or [disregard the invitation?] I wonder what they hear? Do they hear of a Holy-fear alive amongst the family or of infighting in the flock? What do they see when they come inside? Do they see men and women on fire for God, or burnt-out believers who say one thing but do another thing? The Power in their witness 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Note: Here we discover the following things; This work of the Holy Spirit among the people was drawing people unto God! They were not afraid to join the Church, they simply counted the cost. Those who were not serious did not! Those who wanted God did so. This ministry was doing powerful things, it was drawing multitudes of both men and women! The women were not discriminated against… The women were not ostracized… The women were seen as people too…The women were being saved and cared for in the body… Observation: 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. “Instead of going to the Colonnade, people brought sick loved ones into the streets so that Peter’s shadow might fall on them as he walked by. The reputation of the apostles had been broadcast now as men who had the power of God upon their lives… They were heavens heroes…people began to bring them into the streets…because the colonnade was over crowded [they were 5000 people in the church] Note: In the ancient world, a person’s shadow was believed to represent that person. They believed that whatever was in the person, was in the shadow… Notice that the text does not say people were healed by the shadow, though God may very well have chosen to do that. This was yet again the supernatural work of God’s Spirit working through the Church! Note: This ministry began to look like that of Christ ministry! Sick people coming to be healed, Lives being changed, families being restored, illness being cured…all by the power of God! Application: The Lord was using signs and wonders to open the eyes of a generation who had rejected him! This was His method to validate the ministry of the Apostles as his witnesses in the earth! Conclusion: 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Note: As we come to a close… we see a phenomenal move of God happening… crowds came from all the surrounding villages to Jerusalem to be healed by the apostles. One is reminded of Jesus’ own healing ministry as recorded in Mark 6:53–56 and the similar response of the people. At this point the apostles were still confined to Jerusalem. The people came to them from the outlying villages. Only later would they go forth from Jerusalem and take their gospel and their healing ministry into the villages of Judea (cf. 9:32–43). This was the Spirit of God redeeming lost souls! The Spirit of God was healing, touching, curing and raising people up from their afflictions… The demon possessed were set free… They were no longer tormented by the under-world. Victorious Spiritual warfare was done through the Spirit, by the Spirit, because of the Spirit… One scholar commenting on this text said… It is significant that all of these people were healed. There were no failures and nobody was sent away because he or she “did not have faith to be healed.” These were days of mighty power when God was speaking to Israel and telling them that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed their Messiah and Saviour. “For the Jews require a sign” (1 Cor. 1:22), and God gave signs to them. The important thing was not the healing of the afflicted, but the winning of lost souls, as multitudes were added to the fellowship. The Spirit gave them power for wonders and power for witness (Acts 1:8), for miracles apart from God’s Word cannot save the lost. The greatest miracle of all is the transformation of a lost sinner into a child of God by the grace of God. That is the miracle that meets the greatest need, lasts the longest, and costs the greatest price—the blood of God’s Son. And that is one miracle we can all participate in as we share the message of the Gospel, “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Rom. 1:16).
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 14:17:48 +0000